First Long Run

Even after eight hours of sleep, I wanted more, but I forced myself to get up and ready for our first long run of our half marathon training plan. It was tough - and not because of the distance. We've actually done this distance a few times before, so I felt confident about it. But LA has been extremely warm and uncomfortably dry lately, so I felt dehydrated by mile two. I bought a water bottle belt, but I figured I wouldn't need it for such a "short" run. Big mistake in this weather! Still, we pushed through and ran the whole way; here are our stats (using MyTracks from the Google team):

Long Run #1

I'll add to the list every week and hopefully see some progress. :-)

I immediately started in on breakfast when we got home. I sauteed some onions and bell peppers for a scramble, then wrapped it all in a tortilla.

If this isn't attractive, I don't know what is.

Terry had a great time washing our "stainless" steel pan that loves to get stains.

 Then Terry started in on a few loads of laundry while I settled in to get loads of work done for school (<--how do you like that word play?). As a third-year teacher, I usually finish my work during the week, but I really needed to get a few hours in before Monday. By lunch, I was ready for a smoothie along with half of a pear.

Terry's Popeye face.

The smoothie-pear combo wasn't enough for Terry, so he had a sausage sandwich as well.

I wanted to squeeze in some baking today for a Super Bowl party with Terry's coworkers tomorrow (and of course a few things for us). Here's what I learned:

• Almond flour is shockingly easy to make (almonds + food processor for about 45 seconds) and creates a delightful texture and flavor.

  

  Almond-raspberry cookies - a little taste of heaven.

  
  
• Left to our own devices, we aren't the greatest cookie decorators.

  

  Definitely not going to open a bakery anytime soon.

  
  
• I know how to make a serious mess in the kitchen.

  

  Counter space? Who needs it?

• But I also know how to clean in style.

  

  Fancy dish gloves and my apron from Paris.

  
  
• While I'm not yet good at creating my own recipes for baked goods, I do a damn good job following other people's recipes.

  

  Pinwheel cookies with raspberry jam!

  

  These little devils took much longer than expected.

  
  
  

  
  

Despite lots of snacking to "test" the dough and make sure the finished results were delicious (they were!), we managed to work up enough of an appetite to eat out. I'll share those details tomorrow; we enjoyed one of our favorite Italian restaurants in LA!

Hope you had a great Saturday!